Seoul (The Hawk): North Korea's military said on Monday that it will respond to joint military drills between South Korea and the United States with "sustained, resolute, and overwhelming" practical military measures, amid speculation that Pyongyang may conduct another nuclear test just before or after the American midterm elections on Tuesday.
According to a "report" carried by Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency, the Korean People's Army (KPA) conducted a four-day "military operation" last week against the Vigilant Storm exercise, claiming to have fired two strategic missiles just 80 kilometres off the southeastern coast of Ulsan.
"The recent comparable military operations by the KPA are a clear response of the DPRK that the longer the enemy' provocative military acts continue, the more thoroughly and savagely the KPA will counter them," the KPA stated in an English-language statement.
The North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is abbreviated as the DPRK.
The latest Vigilant Storm drill, according to the KPA, was a "open provocation aimed at purposely raising tensions in the region."
"The KPA General Staff reiterates that it will continue to react with all of the enemy's anti-DPRK war drills with prolonged, determined, and overwhelming realistic military actions," it added.
South Korea began its yearly computer-simulated Taegeuk training on Monday to improve operational capabilities against North Korean threats.
(Inputs from Agencies)